Parmesan Part 2

Following on from Sunday's post:

Once the cheese is formed, the mold is removed and the cheese is bathed in a very heavy brine. Not only does this salt the cheese, but it helps the rind form. Parmesan is all cheese - there is no wax or cloth involved.

The cheese then goes into the maturing room. At this stage you can see the embossing in the rind, with an open oval section. This cheese is less than 12 months old.

 

After 12 months the cheese is tested to ensure it is of high enough quality to be sold as Parmesan Reggiano. The testing is not done by tasting, it's done by sound. The cheese is tapped with a little wooden hammer by an  expert from the licencing board. Our guide demonstrated on a plastic "cheese" that has the same resonance as a cheese that conforms to standard.

At that stage the oval in the centre of the cheese is stamped and returned to storage. Cheese that doesn't pass the test is sold as just "parmesan" (without the "reggiano") or sent out to be sold as grated cheese.

As you can see - theres an awful lot of cheese in Italy! (once again, I hope the video works. If not, its here.)